I don't see the point in being ashamed or hiding something I really enjoy. If other people don't like it, or give me shit for watching anime, to hell with them. They're judgmental and obviously not people I would enjoy anyway.

The only thing is that anime is only one of my interests..obviously lol I'm really interested in athletics and working out and hanging with outgoing people who like to party occasionally...but it's hard to find a person is interested in all those things too...usually it's one end of the spectrum or the other..

I do watch it during 3 hour long lectures in class when I'm too bored to pay attention.(With headphones on ofc).
I could care less of what people around me think.(As long as I'm not disturbing them).
It's College, It's not High School or Middle School where some stupid kid would come up to you for no other reason but to hate.
Even if some college kid came up to me, I would tell them to get a life and suck it.

EDIT* The only types of Anime I do not watch in public...
Are the ones that include ecchi or Little girls or girls in general with big breasts or hentai....
Anything that would make people think I'm a weirdo.

Yeah good idea for being selective in public..lol I've seen people watching ecchi and what not and yeah...it feels weird for even someone like me who loves anime. lol

I never hide it. i mean i dont just randomly tell people i watch it for no reason. but if i'm in my house i'll watch it no matter who's here. my mindset is different. nothing embarasses me or humiliates me. because after all i'm 24 lol. i think i've earned the right to decide what the hell i get to watch

A few of my friends are into anime but they only confine themselves to actioney ones.
If I could just make them watch Clannad or perhaps Toradora then my mission would be accomplished.
If somebody insults anime then I simply say whatever I shall watch my anime and you can watch your Jersey Shore or whatever other crappy reality show is hot this month.

I actually just finished Toradora today! What an excellent story. Thanks for the reply.

I don't see the point in being ashamed or hiding something I really enjoy. If other people don't like it, or give me shit for watching anime, to hell with them. They're judgmental and obviously not people I would enjoy anyway.

The only thing is that anime is only one of my interests..obviously lol I'm really interested in athletics and working out and hanging with outgoing people who like to party occasionally...but it's hard to find a person is interested in all those things too...usually it's one end of the spectrum or the other..

I know exactly what you mean. Most of my friends come from the adventure sports side, like skydiving and surfing. The fact that I like Anime has never once come up between any of us. Its strange. I don't know how they would react if they knew I did. I'm pretty sure they would just make fun of me a little and thats it. But part of me thinks they would suddenly treat me differently. I just have no idea. So I leave the subject alone.

Unless you're really really lucky you wont find someone that's into all the same things you are. I've never had a single girlfriend that was into anime or my taste in music or any of my geek interests for that matter. That doesn't mean they weren't awesome people. That's what alone time is for...

I never hide it. i mean i dont just randomly tell people i watch it for no reason. but if i'm in my house i'll watch it no matter who's here. my mindset is different. nothing embarasses me or humiliates me. because after all i'm 24 lol. i think i've earned the right to decide what the hell i get to watch

Lol yeah I'm almost there...chronologically and mindset wise..hopefully soon for the latter.

Unless you're really really lucky you wont find someone that's into all the same things you are. I've never had a single girlfriend that was into anime or my taste in music or any of my geek interests for that matter. That doesn't mean they weren't awesome people. That's what alone time is for...

I don't see the point in being ashamed or hiding something I really enjoy. If other people don't like it, or give me shit for watching anime, to hell with them. They're judgmental and obviously not people I would enjoy anyway.

The only thing is that anime is only one of my interests..obviously lol I'm really interested in athletics and working out and hanging with outgoing people who like to party occasionally...but it's hard to find a person is interested in all those things too...usually it's one end of the spectrum or the other..

I know exactly what you mean. Most of my friends come from the adventure sports side, like skydiving and surfing. The fact that I like Anime has never once come up between any of us. Its strange. I don't know how they would react if they knew I did. I'm pretty sure they would just make fun of me a little and thats it. But part of me thinks they would suddenly treat me differently. I just have no idea. So I leave the subject alone.

Yeah back in high school I felt confident enough to tell some of my teammates on the football team and one reacted "You watch anime?? You're lucky you're on the football team"...he was just implying that I would be a loser or something..not that he would try to bully me or anything lol but still...it's those kind of reactions I want to avoid, for all the reasons I guess.

I am 35. I grew up watching funimation butcher DBZ. Love anime. ANd good music is good music regardless of who the artist is or from where they hail. I don't hide it, but I don't flaunt it either. I have many international influences besides Japan. Remember, Anime does not define us. What we accomplish in this world does. Make it a part of you but do not make it all of you. That aside, I have some suggestions that may help:

1. Be honest with yourself in what makes you happy.
2. Music - Make a playlist of some of your favorite Japanese songs and add some of your favorite English songs. Then seek out some other genres and music from other countries besides Japan and the US. Make it eclectic so that the J-pop is PART of the playlist, but not all of it. This will get you used to not turning it down when those songs come on. Also, if you use that playlist some time as background music, it will actually be quite the conversation starter.
2. Anime - "Maybe next time we get together, I'll show you my second favorite thing in the world." <------ I've been using this phrase for years. It drives dates crazy and makes you seem a bit mysterious. Keep finding ways to "show them next time." If she is really interested in you, after a couple months, she will be DYING to know what it is. Just be sure to have a female friendly anime qued for when you finally show her. And do so with FULL confidence.

Hope this helps. Feel free to message anytime if you have any questions.
-RW

I don't see the point in being ashamed or hiding something I really enjoy. If other people don't like it, or give me shit for watching anime, to hell with them. They're judgmental and obviously not people I would enjoy anyway.

The only thing is that anime is only one of my interests..obviously lol I'm really interested in athletics and working out and hanging with outgoing people who like to party occasionally...but it's hard to find a person is interested in all those things too...usually it's one end of the spectrum or the other..

Ahhhh, I can understand where you're coming from a little more then! I also enjoy working out and many other things as well that sometimes conflict with your stereotypical anime nerd. It definitely can be difficult finding other people who also enjoy all of those things, but I have come across quite a few people that like getting fit, watching anime, and playing video games just as much, if not more, than I do. I do think that you shouldn't hide something you like though. If they're not into it, that's their thing, if you're open about your interests you'll probably have better chances coming across someone else who shares similar hobbies.

In the past I used to be fairly shy about my extreme love for anime, manga, and all sorts of things Japanese! After a few years of not having very many people that I could talk to about something that was very important to me, I just gave up on hiding my inner anime freak, and since then I have made a lot of friends with similar tastes!

I used to during most of high school since I was on varsity track and really outgoing kind of person. But around my senior I found some of the guys from the basketball and soccer teams were unabashed anime fans and it encourage me to come out of the otaku closet. Now 2 years later now not ashamed to admit it as much and have convinced others manga/anime isn't just the stereotypical ecchi, shonen, etc. Yeah have other interests I'm passionate about like music, sports, traveling, and dancing so yeah it will be hard finding like-minded people but don't be embarrassed about what makes you you or even hide it and screw what others say about your hobbies.